The Oklahoma softball team is one of the best in all of college sports. The defending national champions entered Thursday night one win away from going back-to-back (and winning their fifth title in 10 years), stacked with a lineup that piles up runs and a defense and pitching staff that are very stingy on the other end.
The offense is often the story for the Sooners, who have won their last two games by a combined total of 31-1, including a 16-1 beatdown against rival Texas in the first game of the championship series. However, early in Game 2 it was the defense that took center stage as center fielder Jayda Coleman produced an outrageous web gem in center field, robbing Texas of a two-run home run to end the first inning and limit the early damage to a 2-0 deficit.
It’s a 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝
@jaydac00 |
ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/L8LvaKSJW9
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) June 10, 2022
There are home run robberies and then there are home run robberies, with this being in the latter category. There is no doubt that this ball was headed well over the wall and Coleman managed to time her jump perfectly to high point the ball at a full stretch, and pull it back to leave Texas in disbelief and send their fans into pandemonium. Given the Sooner offensive prowess, those two runs would’ve meant a lot to the Longhorns, but Coleman showed that they need to put the ball all the way in the stands if they want a home run.